Palin's top ten moments of 2009

Everyone thought Sarah Palin would be out of the spotlight when she resigned as Alaska's Governor, but, instead, 2009 ending up being the year that Palin put herself on the map. Every channel you turned on, there she was--Sarah Palin signing books, waving to fans, and shaking hands. Positive or negative, the media just couldn't get enough of her and, like her or not, Palin garnered a lot of attention.

1. "Going Rogue"
Palin wrote "Going Rogue" which sold 1 million copies just two weeks after publication. HarperCollins increased an initial printing of 1.5 million copies to 2.8 million. The book tour itself became a cultural phenomenon with thousands of people waiting hours, and sometimes days, to meet the former Alaska Governor.

2. Challenged agenda driven science
Palin stirred up the climate change debate in a Facebook post and controversial Washington Post op-ed. Not only did she state that Obama should boycott Copenhagen, she also took on Al Gore and Arnold Schwarznegger.

3. Challenged Obama's death panels
Palin stirred up the healthcare debate in a Facebook post, stating, "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care." Palin's comments came to define the health care debate in August and Politi-Fact reported that the term was mentioned in news reports 6,000 times in August and September.

4. Boosted Oprah's ratings
Oprah's much-anticipated interview of Sarah Palin brought her the biggest ratings in two years. Palin drew an 8.7 household rating and 13 share, the highest since Oprah hosted the Osmonds in 2007.

5. Heated up the cover of Newsweek
"How do you solve a problem like Sarah?” read the cover of Newsweek magazine. But instead of the headline, most readers’ eyes were drawn to the picture of Sarah Palin clad in a bright red shirt, and short black runner’s shorts, originally shot for Runner’s World Magazine. Even though Palin’s "Going Rogue" ignited critics and supporters, the Newsweek cover brought forth issues such as would a male politician be portrayed the same way and did Newsweek deliberately use the photo to boost their sales?

6. Surprised William Shatner on The Tonight Show
A reoccurring skit with Conan had been interpretative readings by William Shatner, which meant it wouldn't be long before James T. Kirk tackled "Going Rogue." But when Shatner finished his reading, it was Palin herself who graced the stage and tackled her own reading of Shatner's autobiography "Up Till Now."

7. Entertained at the Gridiron Club Dinner
Usually the jokes and one-liners were targeted at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, but at the Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington, D.C., the one-liners were delivered by the former VP candidate herself. The Gridiron Club, founded in 1885, is the oldest and most prestigious journalistic organization in Washington, D.C. and "The very fact she was willing to take the chance of appearing in a room full of her most disdainful critics is testimony to her courage," wrote Dan Thomasson of Scripps Howard. "She came away with at least a consensus of grudging admiration."

8. Showed her continued support for the military
On her nationwide book tour, Palin made stops at five military facilities, donated the royalties from her Fort Hood stop to the families hit by the Nov. 5 mass shooting, and donated the red jacket she wore on the book cover for conservative talk-show host Laura Ingraham's auction to benefit the Wounded Warriors.

9. Presented Great American Award
After greeting 1,000 people who endured the December bitter cold at her book signing in Springfield, Missouri, Sarah Palin addressed the College of the Ozarks, a private school near Branson. The College of the Ozarks presented Palin with the inaugural "Great American" award, citing her contributions to promoting patriotism.

10. Named one of Barbara Walter's Top Ten Most Facinating People of 2009
Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" not only graced the top of the bestseller list, it also took Palin to the top of the list of Republican hopefuls of 2012 and Barbara Walter's list of the Top Ten Most Fascinating People of 2009.

It's too early to say who will prevail as the 2012 GOP presidential candidate, but with the sales of her memoir and her growing popularity, 2010 should be another year that the nation keeps an eye on Sarah Palin.

Read more articles by the National Sarah Palin Examiner at Examiner.com